James 5:11

Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(11) We count them happy which endure.—Rather read it, we count them blessed which endure; or, as some critics would have it, endured. (See Matthew 5:11, and 1Peter 2:19.) The heathen philosopher Solon called no one “happy” upon earth; but, with the mystery of pain around him, cried sadly, “Look to the end.” And the sated and weary soul of Solomon had no better thought than to praise “the dead which are already dead, more than the living” (Ecclesiastes 4:2). How different the teaching of St. James, himself taught by the example of the suffering Christ: verily, “he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than” the greatest and the wisest who know not of its light and peace (Matthew 11:11).

The patience of Job.—The earliest notions current in the world were, doubtless, that on the whole prosperity came to those who lived morally and physically well, while adversity in body or mind followed closely on the wicked and improvident. It is easy to see how these opinions, even among the happier races who had not wandered far from God, gradually hardened into stern rules of judgment, by which each man saw in the chances and calamities of life an immediate effort of an avenging Deity. This was ages before a pious Asaph (Psalms 73) could reflect on the contradiction of experience in this matter, and be troubled at the “prosperity” of the wicked; or before the wise king could notice (Ecclesiastes 7:15; Ecclesiastes 8:14) the just man perishing “in his righteousness,” and the unjust prolonging “his days in wickedness”; “the fishes taken in an evil net,” and “the birds caught in the snare” (Ecclesiastes 9:12). It was ages earlier still than the presence of that Wiser than Solomon, who spoke of the hapless “eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell”—“Think ye that they were sinners above all?” (Luke 13:4-5). Job’s friends were so certain of his misdeeds, that they would not hear his self-defence; if God tried his endurance, man surely afflicted his patience. We can hear the three in council against him, becoming more zealous as they believe themselves the defenders of God’s justice. (See Job 4-22) They are shocked at Job’s obstinacy, and annoyed into vehement accusation against him, because he will “hold fast” to his “integrity.” It is a damning proof to them of his guilt. Not only had he been wicked, but now actually he is impious and rebellious; such conduct is not to be borne. “Is not thy wickedness great?” says Eliphaz (Job 22:5). Thou must have—nay, “thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing;” thou couldst not—nay, “thou hast not given water to the weary, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry:” truly thine iniquities are infinite.” Now, we know Job was innocent; God Himself bears witness to it (Job 1:8). And finally the suffering, patient, righteous man was declared to have spoken wisely: as Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar the contrary. They—types of a censorious piety—had conceived of God by their own faulty notions of religion, and fondly deemed they could enter into the motives of the Most High. Job for awhile had seemed to cloud his own belief with baser attributes, as (Job 16 et seq.) to a God who causelessly dealt in cruelty and pain; but through such fleeting mistakes he rose at last to the full conviction of His perfect truth and justice. It might be that He gave happiness to those who sought Him; it might be He allowed them misery—as the world would call it; but this nor that had part in the matter at issue. Earthly blessings “He gives to whom He wills, or leaves to the powers of nature to distribute among those who fulfil the laws” thereof; but “to serve him and love Him is higher and better than any mundane welfare, though it be with wounded feet and bleeding forehead, or an ash-heap and filthy sores” (Froude). This was the faith to which Job attained: higher, “clearer, purer, there is not possible to man.” In such like “patience” it were well for us that we should “possess our souls” (Luke 21:19).

And have seen the end of the Lord.—Better thus, Ye have heard . . . see also the end of the Lord. The reference is at once past and future: consider, i.e., what God wrought in the end of trial, on the faithful of old time, like Job; learn from it how great a deliverance He will also work for you. But “if ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established” (Isaiah 7:9). It is a mistake to understand here any allusion to the death of Christ, as if the Apostle spoke to those who witnessed it.

That the Lord is very pitiful.—St. James, in the fulness of his gratitude, seems to have coined a word for this single place. “Great-hearted” would be close to its meaning; but originally the bowels were thought to be the seat of the affections, and hence such terms of expression: as also in Genesis 43:30; 1Kings 3:26; Isaiah 63:15; Lamentations 1:20; Philippians 1:8; 1John 3:17, et al.

“The Lord” here is Jehovah: under which name the Lord spake and wrought before He was made man. See Bishop Pearson On the Creed, in Article 2, proving the significance of κίριος, or Lord, as the right translation of the Hebrew El, Elohim, Shaddai, Adonai, and Jehovah. And compare Isaiah 40:3 with Matthew 3:1; Malachi 3:1 with Matthew 11:10 and Jeremiah 23:6.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

5:7-11 Consider him that waits for a crop of corn; and will not you wait for a crown of glory? If you should be called to wait longer than the husbandman, is not there something more worth waiting for? In every sense the coming of the Lord drew nigh, and all his people's losses, hardships, and sufferings, would be repaid. Men count time long, because they measure it by their own lives; but all time is as nothing to God; it is as a moment. To short-lived creatures a few years seem an age; but Scripture, measuring all things by the existence of God, reckons thousands of years but so many days. God brought about things in Job's case, so as plainly to prove that he is very pitiful and of tender mercy. This did not appear during his troubles, but was seen in the event, and believers now will find a happy end to their trials. Let us serve our God, and bear our trials, as those who believe that the end will crown all. Our eternal happiness is safe if we trust to him: all else is mere vanity, which soon will be done with for ever.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Behold, we count them happy which endure - The word rendered "we count them happy" (μακαρίζομεν makarizomen,) occurs only here and in Luke 1:48, where it is rendered "shall call me blessed." The word μακάριος makarios (blessed, or happy,) however, occurs often. See Matthew 5:3-11; Matthew 11:6; Matthew 13:6, et soepe. The sense here is, we speak of their patience with commendation. They have done what they ought to do, and their name is honored and blessed.

Ye have heard of the patience of Job - As one of the most illustrious instances of patient sufferers. See Job 1:21. The book of Job was written, among other reasons, to show that true religion would bear any form of trial to which it could be subjected. See Job 1:9-11; Job 2:5-6.

And have seen the end of the Lord - That is, the end or design which the Lord had in the trials of Job, or the result to which he brought the case at last - to wit, that he showed himself to be very merciful to the poor sufferer; that he met him with the expressions of his approbation for the manner in which he bore his trials; and that he doubled his former possessions, and restored him to more than his former happiness and honor. See Job 13. Augustine, Luther, Wetstein, and others, understand this as referring to the death of the Lord Jesus, and as meaning that they had seen the manner in which he suffered death, as an example for us. But, though this might strike many as the true interpretation, yet the objections to it are insuperable.

(1) it does not accord with the proper meaning of the word "end," (τέλος telos). That word is in no instance applied to "death," nor does it properly express death. It properly denotes an end, term, termination, completion; and is used in the following senses: -

(a) To denote the end, the termination, or the last of anything, Mark 3:26; 1 Corinthians 15:24; Luke 21:9; Hebrews 7:3;

(b) An event, issue, or result, Matthew 26:58; Romans 6:21; 2 Corinthians 11:18;

(c) The final purpose, that to which all the parts tend, and in which they terminate, 1 Timothy 1:5;

(d) Tax, custom, or tribute - what is paid for public ends or purposes, Matthew 17:25; Romans 13:7.

(2) this interpretation, referring it to the death of the Saviour, would not accord with the remark of the apostle in the close of the verse, "that the Lord is very merciful." That is, what he says was "seen," or this was what was particularly illustrated in the ease referred to. Yet this was not particularly seen in the death of the Lord Jesus. He was indeed most patient and submissive in his death, and it is true that he showed mercy to the penitent malefactor; but this was not the particular and most prominent trait which he evinced in his death. Besides, if it had been, that would not have been the thing to which the apostle would have referred here. His object was to recommend patience under trials, not mercy shown to others; and this he does by showing:

(a) That Job was an eminent instance of it, and,

(b) That the result was such as to encourage us to be patient.

The end or the result of the divine dealings in his case was, that the Lord was "very pitiful and of tender mercy;" and we may hope that it will be so in our case, and should therefore be encouraged to be patient under our trials.

That the Lord is very pitiful - As he showed deep compassion in the case of Job, we have equal reason to suppose that he will in our own.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

11. count them happy—(Mt 5:10).

which endure—The oldest authorities read, "which have endured," which suits the sense better than English Version: "Those who in past days, like the prophets and Job, have endured trials." Such, not those who "have lived in pleasure and been wanton on the earth" (Jas 5:5), are "happy."

patience—rather, "endurance," answering to "endure": the Greek words similarly corresponding. Distinct from the Greek word for "patience" Jas 5:10. The same word ought to be translated, "endurance," Jas 1:3. He here reverts to the subject which he began with.

Job—This passage shows the history of him is concerning a real, not an imaginary person; otherwise his case could not be quoted as an example at all. Though he showed much of impatience, yet he always returned to this, that he committed himself wholly to God, and at last showed a perfect spirit of enduring submission.

and have seen—(with the eyes of your mind). Alford translates from the old and genuine reading, "see also," &c. The old reading is, however, capable of being translated as English Version.

the end of the Lord—the end which the Lord gave. If Job had much to "endure," remember also Job's happy "end." Hence, learn, though much tried, to "endure to the end."

that—Alford and others translate, "inasmuch as," "for."

pitiful … of tender mercy—The former refers to the "feeling"; the latter, to the act. His pity is shown in not laying on the patient endurer more trials than he is able to bear; His mercy, in His giving a happy "end" to the trials [Bengel].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

We count them happy which endure; we ourselves count them happy that endure, and therefore should be patient, and not count ourselves miserable if we endure too.

Which endure; viz. patiently and constantly, Matthew 5:10,11.

Ye have heard of the patience of Job; for which he was as eminent as for his sufferings; and though some signs of impatience be showed, yet his patience and submission to God being prevalent, and most remarkable to him, that only is taken notice of, and his failings overlooked.

And have seen the end of the Lord: Job’s patience is heard of, but God’s end seen: seeing being a clearer way of perception than hearing, is put in this latter clause, because God’s bounty and recompence was more evident than Job’s patience.

The end of the Lord; the good issue God gave to all Job’s sufferings, in restoring him to his former state, and doubling his prosperity.

That the Lord is very pitiful; full of bowels, Greek; the bowels being the seat of compassion, (in which we feel a stirring when strong affections are working in us), are frequently put to signify the most tender and movable affections, such as mothers have toward their children, Genesis 43:30 1 Kings 3:26 Isaiah 43:15 Colossians 3:12: this seems to note the affection itself, or God’s readiness to show mercy, Luke 1:78.

And of tender mercy: this may imply acts of mercy suitable to a merciful nature, the former mercy within, and this mercy breaking out.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Behold, we count them happy which endure,.... Affliction, with courage, constancy, and patience, and hold out to the end; for such shall be saved; theirs is the kingdom of heaven; they are happy now, and will be so hereafter: the Spirit of God, and of glory, now rests upon them; and it is an honour done them that they are counted worthy to suffer for Christ; and they will be glorified with him to all eternity; the consideration of which may serve to encourage and increase patience.

Ye have heard of the patience of Job; from the account which is given of him, and his patience, in the book that bears his name; how he behaved under every trial, which came one upon the back of another; as the plundering of his substance, the loss of his children, and of the health of his body; and yet in all this Job sinned not, nor murmured against God, nor charged him foolishly, and was a mirror of patience; and though he afterwards let fall some expressions of impatience, yet he was humbled for them, and brought to repentance: this shows, that as the Apostle James, so the Jews, to whom he writes, believed that there had been really such a man as Job; and that the book which bears his name is an authentic piece of holy Scripture, and contains a narrative of matters of fact; or otherwise this reference to him would have been impertinent. How long Job endured the chastenings of the Lord cannot be said. The Jews (y) say they continued on him twelve months, which they gather from Job 7:3.

And have seen the end of the Lord; that is, the happy end, or exodus, out of all his troubles; which the Lord gave "to him", as the Oriental versions add; for he gave him twice as much as he had before, and blessed his latter end more than his beginning, Job 42:10. Some understand this of the Lord Jesus Christ, both of his great patience in sufferings, in which he is an example to his people, and they would do well to look to, and consider him; and of the end of his sufferings, his glorious resurrection from the dead, and session at the right hand of God, where he is crowned with glory and honour; but the former sense is best:

that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy; as to Job, so to all his people; his paternal relation to them engages his pity towards them; nor does he willingly afflict them; and when he does, he sympathizes with them; he is afflicted with them, and in his pity redeems them; his heart moves towards them, and he earnestly remembers them, and works deliverance for them in his own time and way; and therefore it becomes them to be patient.

(y) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 3. p. 9.

Geneva Study Bible

Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the {e} end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

(e) What end the Lord gave.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Jam 5:11 assigns a new reason for the exhortation: Behold, we count happy them who endure; the μακαρίζειν of them is founded on the consciousness that God does not leave them unrewarded (Matthew 5:12), which is clearly manifested in the life of Job, on which account James, in conclusion, refers to him. By the reading τοὺς ὑπομένοντας the idea is to be taken quite generally; whereas by the better attested reading τοὺς ὑπομείναντας it is to be limited to sufferers of the past time; the latter is more in conformity with the context (Wiesinger). The “restricted reference” to τοὺς προφήτας (Grotius, Baumgarten, Pott, Hottinger, Theile) is not to be justified.

τὴν ὑπομόνην Ἰὼβ ἠκούσατε] ὑπομόνη is not = perpessio (Storr), but the patience which Job displayed both in his afflictions and in his replies to the contradictions of his friends; Tob 2:12-14 (Vulg.; the text in the Greek ed. Tisch. reads differently) refers to the same example; also in Ezekiel 14:14; Ezekiel 14:20, Job is mentioned as a righteous man along with Noah and Daniel.

ἠκούσατε] may refer specially to the reading in the synagogue, but may be understood generally.

καὶ τὸ τέλος κυρίου] is, according to the connection given above, to be referred to and explained of the issue in which the sufferings of Job terminated: finem, quern a Domino habuit; so that κυρίου is the genit. subj. or causae (2 Corinthians 11:26); thus most expositors explain it. Others, as Augustin, Bede, Lyra, Estius, Thomas, Pareus, Wetstein, Lange, assume that by τέλος κυρίου the death of Christ is to be understood. Against this is not only the concluding clause, but also the context, which points to the end to which the pious sufferer is brought by the mercy of God, and on account of which he is accounted happy; apart altogether from the improbability that James should connect the example of Christ immediately with that of Job.[234]

With the reading εἴδετε this can only be understood of “indirect seeing, namely, of clear perception by hearing” (de Wette). The better attested reading, however, is ἴδετε, and it can only be regarded as an oversight that Wiesinger translates this ἴδετε by “audiendo cognovistis,” as it is not the indicative, but the imperative. The imperative is here certainly surprising, and was on that account changed into the indicative. Tischendorf has connected ἴδετε with what goes before, and then it is to be explained: Ye have heard of the patience of Job, look also at the end which the Lord gave. The connection with what follows would, however, be more suitable: Ye have heard of the patience of Job and the end which the Lord gave; see (i.e. recognise from this) that the Lord is πολύσπλαγχνος and οἰκτίρμων. Such an imperative, introduced ἀσυνδέτως, is not foreign to the style of James; comp. chap. Jam 1:16; Jam 1:19. With the Receptus, and also with the union of ἴδετε with τὸ τέλος κυρίου, ὅτι is not a particle of proof = for (de Wette, Wiesinger, Lange), since in the preceding words no thought is expressed which would be confirmed by this clause;[235] but an objective particle that; a twofold object is joined to the verb, the second definitely bringing forward the point indicated in the first; arbitrarily Theile translates it and certainly.

The subject to ἔστιν is at all events ὁ κύριος, which, according to the most important authorities, is to be retained as genuine.

πολύσπλαγχνος] is a complete ἅπ. λεγ. “coined after the Hebrew רַב הֶסֶד” (Wiesinger), which the LXX. translate πολυέλεος, see Exodus 34:6, etc.; in Ephesians 4:32, 1 Peter 3:8, is the related expression εὔσπλαγχνος.

οἰκτίρμων] in the N. T. only here and in Luke 6:36 (comp. Colossians 3:12 : σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ), frequently in O. T.; comp. with this passage, particularly Exodus 34:6; Psalm 103:8; and Sir 2:7 ff.

The reference to the mercy of God was to impress the readers, in their sufferings, with the hope that the reward of their patience would not fail them, and to encourage them to stedfast endurance.

[234] In a most unsatisfactory manner Lange seeks to justify this, by observing that James “did thus connect the example of Abraham with that of Rahab.” It is evidently inappropriate to place together Job as “the great sufferer of the Old Testament,” with Christ as “the great sufferer of the New Testament.”

[235] In a peculiar but highly arbitrary manner, Lange refers ὅτι to what directly precedes, uniting it with τὸ τέλος κυρίου in the sense that it is thereby specified what Christ was able to effect in entering upon His sufferings.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Jam 5:11. μακαρίζομεν: Cf. 4Ma 18:13, used in reference to Daniel.—Ἰώβ: Job occupies a high place of honour in post-biblical Jewish literature, cf. the pseudepigraphic work “The Testament of Job”.—τὸ τέλος Κυρίου: the final purpose of Jehovah with regard to Job; it could not refer to Christ, for the whole passage is dealing with O.T. examples.—πολύσπλαγχνος: ἅπ. λεγ. in N.T.—οἰκτίρμων: only elsewhere in N.T. in Luke 6:36; cf. Sir 2:11 and often in the Septuagint.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

11. we count them happy which endure …] Better, we call them blessed, the verb being formed from the adjective used in ch. James 1:12. Comp. Luke 2:48. The words may contain a reference to Daniel 12:12.

Ye have heard of the patience of Job] Better, endurance, to keep up the connexion with the verb. It is singular that, though the book is once quoted (1 Corinthians 3:19, Job 5:13), this is the only reference in the New Testament to the history of Job. Philo, however, quotes from Job 14:4 (de Mutat. Nom. xxiv.), and he is referred to by Clement of Rome (1.17.26). The book would naturally be studied by one whose attention had been drawn, as St James’s manifestly had been, to the sapiential Books included in the Hagiographa of the Old Testament. It is obvious that he refers to the book as containing an actual history, as obvious that his so referring to it throws no light on the questions which have been raised, but which it would be out of place to discuss here, as to its authorship and date.

and have seen the end of the Lord] The words have received two very different interpretations. (1) They have been referred to the “end” which the “Lord” wrought out for Job after his endurance had been tried, as in Job 42:12. (2) The “end of the Lord” has been understood as pointing to the death and resurrection of Christ as the Lord who had been named in James 5:7, the highest example of patience in the Old Testament being brought into juxtaposition with the Highest of all Examples. On this view the passage becomes parallel with 1 Peter 2:19-25. The clause that follows is, however, decisively in favour of (1), nor is there any instance of a New Testament writer using the term “end” of the passion and death of Christ. Matthew 26:58, which is the nearest approach to such a use, is scarcely in point.

that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy] The first of the two adjectives, of which the nearest English equivalent would be large-hearted or perhaps tender-hearted, is not found in any other writer, and may have been a coinage of St James’s. The latter occurs in Sir 2:11, in close juxtaposition with a passage which we have already found referred to in the Epistle (Sir 2:11), and which may therefore have been present to St James’s thoughts. In this instance “the Lord” is clearly used in the Old Testament sense, and this, as has been said, determines the meaning of the previous clause.

Bengel's Gnomen

Jam 5:11. Ἰδοὺ) See App. Crit. on the passage.—τοὺς ὑπομείναντας, those who have endured) in preference to those who have lived luxuriously. The Alexandrian Codex and Euthalius give weight to those which read ὑπομείναντας.[73]—ὑπομονὴν, endurance, patience) James returns to the subject with which he began: comp. ch. Jam 1:3, note. חקוה, Septuagint, ὙΠΟΜΟΝῊ, in Job 14:19. It here marks constancy attaining to the desired object.—ΤῸ ΤΈΛΟς ΚΥΡΊΟΥ) the end, which the Lord gave to Job.—ΕἼΔΕΤΕ, ye have seen) There is the same use of the word, with respect to a transaction long ago past, Hebrews 3:19. Patience and its end are in consonance, ch. Jam 1:4; Matthew 24:13. James is not silent respecting the end of the patience of Job.—ὅτι, [“that”] since) This depends upon the words immediately preceding. It is a continued sentence. Patience is twice mentioned, and the Lord is twice mentioned. Sir 2:11, ΟἸΚΤΊΡΜΩΝ ΚΑῚ ἘΛΕΉΜΩΝ, ΜΑΚΡΌΘΥΜΟς ΚΑῚ ΠΟΛΥΈΛΕΟς, full of compassion and mercy, long-suffering and very pitiful.—πολύσπλαγχνος, very pitiful) He does not lay upon the patient more than he is able to bear.—οἰκτίρμων) He mercifully gives a happy issue. The figure Chiasmus: οἰκτίρμων, from εἴκω, to yield, denotes a tender affection even without respect to calamity or misery, as David says to the Lord, ארחמך, Psalm 18:2.

[73] AB Vulg. and both Syr. Versions read ὑπομείναντας. So Lachm. rightly Rec. Text, with Memph. and Theb. Versions and inferior Uncial MSS., reads ὑπομένοντας: so Tisch. But this does not suit the connection so well, which plainly refers to those who had in former times endured.—E.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 11. - Behold, we count them happy. Μακαρίζειν: only here and Luke 1:48 (comp. James 1:12, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation;" Daniel 12:12, "Blessed is he that waiteth"). Which endure; rather, which endured, reading ὑπομείναντας, with א, A, B, Syriac, Latt. (quisustinuerunt). Ye have heard of the patience of Job. A book very rarely referred to in the New Testament; only here and in 1 Corinthians 3:19, where Job 5:13 is quoted. And have seen the end of the Lord. Ἴδετε ("see") is found in A, B, L, but εἴδετε of the Received Text has the support of א, B, K, Vulgate (ridistis), and is now generally adopted. The "end of the Lord (τὸ τέλος Κυρίου)" cannot possibly be interpreted of the death and resurrection of our Savior. The whole context is against this, and Κυρίου would certainly require the article. The Syriac Version rightly interprets the clause, "the end which the Lord wrought for him." It dearly refers to the end which God brought about in the case of Job, whose "latter end the Lord blessed more than his beginning" (Job 42:12; cf. Winer, 'Grammar of New Testament Greek,' p. 309). That the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy, Πολύσπλαχνος: here only; never in the LXX, but equivalent to Hebrew רַב חֶסֶד; cf. Psalm 103. (102.), 8; 111. (110.), 4, which may have suggested the phrase to St. James. Οἰκτίρμων: only here and Luke 6:36; several times in the LXX. Ὁ Κύριος is omitted entirely in K, L, and some manuscripts of the Vulgate; the article is also wanting in B. James 5:11

Vincent's Word Studies

Endure (ὑπομένοντας)

Present participle. But the later texts read ὑπομείναντας, the aorist participle, which endured; referring to the prophets in the past ages. So Rev. On endured and patience, see on James 5:7.

The end of the Lord (τὸ τέλος κυρίου)

A peculiar expression. The happy conclusion to which God brought Job's trials.

Very pitiful and of tender mercy (πολυσπλαγχνός καὶ οἰκτίρμων)

The former adjective only here in New Testament; the latter here and Luke 6:36. Rev., full of pity and merciful. Πολυσπλαγχνός is from πολύς, much, and σπλάγχνα, the nobler entrails, used like our heart, as the seat of the emotions Hence the term bowels in the A. V. (Philippians 1:8; Colossians 3:12, etc.). Compare εὔσπλαγχνοι, tender-hearted, Ephesians 4:32. The distinction between this and οἰκτίρμων, merciful, seems to be that the former denotes the general quality of compassion, while the latter emphasizes the sympathy called out by special cases, being the feeling which is moved to pain at another's suffering.